Radha Poonoosamy (Tamil: ராதா பொன்னுசாமி படையாச்சி) (née Padayachee, 18 September 1924 – January 2008), was a Mauritian politician, the country's first female cabinet minister, and a feminist activist.
She was born Radha Padayachee on 18 September 1924 in Durban, South Africa.[1] She was born into a family of Indian ancestry.[2]
She was educated at the University of Natal, where she was an "outspoken opponent of apartheid", and became a member of the Student Council of the Indian National Congress, which fought against anti-Indian discrimination in South Africa.[2] She went on to become head of the women's section, and also a member of the executive committee of the African National Congress (ANC).[2]
She married the physician Dr. Valaydon Poonoosamy, and they settled in Mauritius in 1952. She became a naturalized citizen, and continued her activism there within Mauritius's Labour Party.[2]
In 1975, Poonoosamy was elected a Member of Parliament, becoming the country's first female minister, the inaugural minister in charge of the Ministry of Women's Affairs, and helped pass laws against sex discrimination.[2][3]
References
edit- ^ Akyeampong, Emmanuel K; Gates, Henry Louis, eds. (2012). "Poonoosamy, Radha - Oxford Reference". oxfordreference.com. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195382075.001.0001. ISBN 9780195382075. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.; Professor Emmanuel Akyeampong; Mr. Steven J. Niven (2 February 2012). Dictionary of African Biography. OUP USA. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
- ^ "A Liberation Week: Women on the Move". mauritiustimes.com. 15 March 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
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